Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

7 ^(A)Now after these things, in the reign of ^(B)Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to ^[a]study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and ^(A)to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

¹¹ Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, ^[b]learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: ¹² “^[c]Artaxerxes, ^(B)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now ^13 (C)I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.